Organizational News

APUA lntroduces New Communication Vehicles

APUA recently launched several new communication vehicles. The APUA Newsletter, which has been published since 1983, is now distributed electronically and is also available in PDF form. More frequent updates on the actions of APUA can be found in APUA Highlights, which is distributed by email. To receive news from APUA, please sign up here. Lastly, APUA’s blog, “Superbugs and Drugs”®, promotes discussion about antibiotic resistance issues impacting public policy and patient care around the world. It features the input of APUA’s distinguished Expert Panel whose members hold vast global experience and expertise in improving antibacterial treatment and containment of antibiotic resistance. Comment on the blog's most recent post, "Discovery & Stewardship of Narrow Spectrum Antibiotics" now!

APUA Joins IDSA's 10 x '20 Initiative

APUA endorsed IDSA's advocacy campaign, the 10x'20 initiative to address the dry antibiotic pipeline and call for 10 new antibiotics by 2020. 10 x '20 encourages the development of antibiotics and the improvement of diagnostic tests for priority resistant infections, as well as the creation of incentives that stimulate new antibacterial research and development.

Approximately 25 high-level persons from a variety of disciplines and agencies attended each meeting, at which the findings of the project were presented. Those attending participated in lively discussions about the implications of the findings and the way forward. Some of the findings were of particular interest, especially the findings with regard to issues with quality of amoxicillin samples collected in both countries, and that antibiotic dosing of young children was insufficient in many cases.

APUA Welcomes Newest Board Member Mary Wilson, MD

Mary E. Wilson, MD, is Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Associate Professor, Department of Global Health and Population at the Harvard School of Public Health. Her academic interests include tuberculosis, ecology of infections, emergence of new infections, determinants of disease distribution, travel medicine, and vaccines. She has served on the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices of the CDC and the Academic Advisory Committee for the National Institute of Public Health in Mexico. Dr. Wilson has been writing for Journal Watch Infectious Diseases since the publication was launched in 1998.

APUA staff and Board Member, Mary Wilson, MD

In Memoriam

It is with profound regret that APUA announces the passing of Dr. Calil K. Farhat on September 8, 2010. Dr. Farhat was an active member of APUA’s Brazilian chapter (APUA-Brazil). As a titular professor in both the Pediatrics Department of Federal University of São Paulo and Infectious Diseases Department of the College of Medicine of Marilia, São Paulo, Brazil, Dr. Farhat was a dynamic and committed figure in the control of pediatric infectious diseases in Latin America. In the 1980's he envisioned convening pediatricians of Latin American countries in order to develop the discipline of Pediatric Infectious Diseases in Africa which aimed to form new generations of specialists equipped with the tools of modern science and a focus on research. In recent years, he was a major force with the Sabin Vaccine Institute's Pneumococcal Awareness Council of Experts (PACE) in advancing the cause for the control of pneumococcal disease. Dr. Farhat received multiple honors in Brazil and abroad, and was distinguished with an Honours Diploma from the American Academy of Pediatrics.